Critical Survey: JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS) versus Cromwell Property Group (OTCMKTS:CMWCF)

Cromwell Property Group (OTCMKTS:CMWCF) and JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS) are both real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Cromwell Property Group and JBG SMITH Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cromwell Property Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
JBG SMITH Properties	3	0	0	0	1.00

JBG SMITH Properties has a consensus price target of $16.67, suggesting a potential upside of 38.08%. Given JBG SMITH Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe JBG SMITH Properties is more favorable than Cromwell Property Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.5% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.9% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Cromwell Property Group pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. JBG SMITH Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Cromwell Property Group pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. JBG SMITH Properties pays out -37.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cromwell Property Group and JBG SMITH Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cromwell Property Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.11	2.38
JBG SMITH Properties	$498.60 million	1.41	-$139.06 million	($1.87)	-6.45

Cromwell Property Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than JBG SMITH Properties. JBG SMITH Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cromwell Property Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Cromwell Property Group and JBG SMITH Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cromwell Property Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
JBG SMITH Properties	-22.16%	-9.32%	-2.53%

About Cromwell Property Group

Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) is a real estate investor and fund manager with operations on three continents and a global investor base. Cromwell is included in the S&P/ASX200. As at 30 June 2022, Cromwell had a market capitalisation of $2.0 billion, an Australian investment portfolio valued at $3.0 billion and total assets under management of $12.0 billion across Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

About JBG SMITH Properties

JBG SMITH Properties is a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning, operating, investing in, and developing a portfolio of mixed-use properties. It operates through the following segments: Multifamily, Commercial, and Other. The Multifamily segment refers to the commercial buildings with public areas, retail spaces, and walkable streets. The Commercial segment rents to federal government tenants. The Other segment relates to development assets, corporate entities, land assets for which are the ground lessor and the elimination of inter-segment activity. The company was founded on October 27, 2016, and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.